Ana Gonçalves was born and raised in Lisbon. Her grandfather was a baker, her mother a feted cook and her father a navy diver who spent his weekends foraging for seafood for the family table. She started her professional life as a graphic designer but the family passion for food was in her blood – so in 2009 she went to Le Cordon Bleu school in London. After that, she worked with Nuno Mendes for many years, where she met her partner Zijun Meng, with whom she formed TĀ TĀ Eatery, a nomadic food brand which pops up in all kinds of places and in all kinds of guises. Their latest venture is TÓU, a sando (the Japanese name for sandwich) bar above the Globe Tavern in Borough Market, where they serve their famous Iberico katsu sando alongside a wide selection of natural wine. We talked to her about where she eats when she’s back home.
Cheap and cheerful: Ze da Mouraria
This family-run restaurant is in the Mouraria neighbourhood, the birthplace of fado music, which it celebrates on the walls of the dining room. It does huge portions meant for sharing and it’s super cheap. It serves the classics like duck rice, stewed cuttlefish with potatoes, and gigantic platters of grilled cod served with salted potatoes and chickpeas swimming in olive oil, coriander and garlic. It’s loud and fun and there’s always a queue for a reason.
R. João do Outeiro 24, 1100-292 Lisboa; instagram.com/ze_da_mouraria
Seafood heaven: Nunes Real Marisqueira
Everyone goes to Ramiro, which is very Instagrammable, but for seafood I much prefer Nunes Real Marisqueira. It sources the best of the best. My favourites are the spider crab and slipper lobsters. When the baby cuttlefish is in season you have to order it, it’s absolutely amazing and they prepare it two ways – deep fried and fried with garlic and coriander. My dad knows the old men that supply its goose barnacles and so he always orders them when we go.
R. Bartolomeu Dias 172 E F, 1400-031 Lisboa; nunesmarisqueira.pt
Old-school classic: Gambrinus
This Lisbon institution dates back to the ’30s and I’m sure most of the furniture dates from then, too. You can eat in the main room, which is a Portuguese/French bistro serving French food cooked in a Portuguese style. Or there’s a bar, where you sit in lovely 1930s leather swivel chairs and watch the 60-year-old bartenders – each dressed in a white shirt, tie and vest – as they deliver the most old-school classic service. You have to order the super-meaty and moreish croquettes. They are fried to order and come served with a dollop of house mustard (get yourself an old fashioned to wash them down). I also recommend the prego, a simple sandwich of lightly fried thin steak with garlic, which always hits the spot.
R. das Portas de Santo Antão 23, 1150-264 Lisboa; gambrinuslisboa.com
Piri piri chicken: Churrascaria Somos um Regalo
This fast-paced restaurant is out in Cascais on the coast, about 30 minutes from downtown Lisbon. It does the best piri piri chicken; you just have to eat it with your hands. The place uses a homemade oil with oregano and garlic that they use to constantly baste the bird as they cook it. Meng eats two chickens on his own it’s so good. The last time we were there he tried to go into the kitchen to watch them at work, but they are so secretive about their cooking that they wouldn’t let him.
Av. Vasco da Gama 36, 2750-509 Cascais; somosumregalo.pt
Try Ana’s food at TÓU, upstairs at the Globe Tavern, 8 Bedale Street, London SE1 9AL; tou-london.com
